Kothe Kharak Singh (A Story of Three Generations)

Kothe Kharak Singh is a novel of epic dimensions spanning a period of three generations. It covers a period starting after 1940-42 and goes on to the ushering in of Janata Party's rule after the Emergency and then Indira Gandhi's return to power. Such a long narration, having so many characters, with their different natures, and temperaments and different relationships with their peculiar problems, in the background of distinctive culture prevailing in the villages, the erosion of human values, the deep impact of politics on the changing village culture after 1947, intrusion of politics into religion and interference of religion in politics. The writer has accommodated all that in this grand creation.

Ram Sarup Ankhi (b. 1932) was born at village Dhaula in Sangrur district of Punjab. He has so far contributed ten collections of short stories, six novels and five volumes of poems. Some of his stories have been translated into Hindi, Gujarati and many other Indian languages.

Avtar Singh Judge (b. 1929), the translator, is a journalist by profession. Ever since he graduated with honours from London University in 1962 with Persian and Urdu as his special subjects, he has been translating fiction from Urdu and Punjabi into English. His English translation of Akademi's award-winning Urdu short stories Bazgoi by Surendra Parakash (1997) and Pakheru by Ram Lall (2003) are published by Sahitya Akademi.

Ram Sarup Ankhi is a well-known name in Punjabi fiction. So far he has contributed ten collections of short stories and four novels. He has been writing continuously for the last thirty five years. First poetry, then short stories and then side by side novels as well. He himself is now in the fifty-second year of his life. I had said to him so many times, "Ankhi, it is time you write something on a grand scale, which has the quintessence of your life, your overall impressions about the life around you and a long tale about the life in the countryside of Punjab.' He always gave me a patient hearing, but preferred to remain silent.

Now he has written this novel Kothe Kharak Singh. At this age such a grand creation of his pen was only to be expected. His novel Ateet was published in 1981. Afterwards he wrote only about half a dozen short stories. For two years he just kept making plans to write a biggish novel. And then kept writing Kothe Kharak Singh for almost two years. Such a long narration, having so many characters, with their different natures, and temperaments and different relationships with their peculiar problems, in the background of distinctive culture prevailing in the villages, the erosion of human values with the passage of time and then the deep impact of politics on the changing village culture after 1947, intrusion of politics into religion, interference of religion in politics, along with individual and class struggle going on here and there. Ankhi has strived to accomodate all that in this tale of his in a very methodical manner.

In the villages of Punjab, especially among the inhabitants of villages in the Malwa region, the jat community has always been the central axel around which the whole village community revolved. Even now it is like that. All the other castes have been revolving around this jat axel. Lately this belief has begun to be somewhat eroded. All this erosion has taken place because of the changing economic values. And is taking place more rapidly even now. In the earliest times a jat always cherished two dominant desires-woman and land. At times he squandered all his family assets and landed property for the sake of a woman, and at times didn't care about his wife for the sake of land. As a matter of fact, by and by as he began to understand economy, land became his primary concern. He was willing to stake everything else for the sake of land.

Moneylender's mentality entered a rich farmer's mind. And then this rich farmer also started taking part in politics. He has to deal with police and courts all the time to have something or the other done. He also had to inspire people around him with awe. He achieved all that through the contemporary politics. The situation was such that if the M.L.A. or the minister of the area happened to be a congressman, the rich farmer too donned a home-spun white turban and became a Congressman. If the M.L.A. or the minister changed his party and became an Akali, the rich farmer too changed the colour of his turban and became an Akali. The contemporary politics became dirtier day by day and what was left with the village folks was their concern to fulfil their selfish ends.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages